New regulations provide for more effective use of 450-470 MHz band for fixed and mobile broadband, telephony and multimedia services to bridge the digital divide

COSTA MESA, CA — January 10, 2011 — The CDMA Development Group (CDG) today announced its support for new regulations of channelization and conditions of use of spectrum in the 450 MHz band recently issued by Brazilian regulatory agency ANATEL. Under the new regulations, the 450-470 MHz band will be cleared and allocated to deliver fixed and mobile services, including the full range of International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) services nationwide in Brazil. The spectrum will be allocated on a primary (non-exclusive) basis for mobile services (SMP), fixed telephone services (STFC) as well as multimedia communication services (SCM). By doing so, the 450 MHz spectrum will be used to more effectively deliver fixed and mobile telephony and broadband data services to Brazil’s rural and urban regions, helping to further bridge the country’s digital divide.

“The CDG applauds ANATEL for taking an important step toward bringing 3G voice and broadband data services to all Brazilians,” said Perry LaForge, executive director of the CDG. “The propagation capabilities and advantages of the 450-470 MHz spectrum band make it ideal for delivering affordable telecommunication services to both rural and urban areas. We look forward to working with the government and the wireless industry to make CDMA2000-based services accessible to all regions of Brazil.”

As part of its National Rural Telecommunications program, the Brazilian Ministry of Communications explored several technologies to provide Brazilian citizens, schools, health clinics, and other public buildings in the most remote areas of the country with access to telephony and Internet broadband services. In 2009, this high-profile economic and social inclusion program found that such services would be best delivered via a dependable and unified wireless telephony and broadband technology using the 450-470 MHz band. Although priority is placed on serving Brazil’s rural areas, the licensees can serve urban areas as deemed necessary. Affordable service fees, a prepaid option, infrastructure sharing and the resale of services are all desired components outlined in the program, which also mandates free Internet access to rural schools. According to the Ministry of Communications, only 26 percent of the 86,654 rural schools in Brazil have a phone connection, and approximately 1 percent of them have Internet access.

The regulations announced by ANATEL allocate the 451-458 MHz and 461-468 MHz bands, including a block of 7+7 MHz. Current users of the 450-470 MHz frequency bands will be migrated to an alternative spectrum band to avoid interference and facilitate Brazil’s goal of providing coverage to areas of low population density.

"Allocating the 450 MHz frequency band in Brazil is essential to advancing the social and economic interests of the country,” said Átila Augusto Souto, Director of Universal Telecommunications Services for Brazil’s Ministry of Communications, following the announcement of the regulations in late December. “By offering affordable telephony and broadband Internet services, the citizens and public institutions of this nation will be able to fully leverage the enormous advantages of the digital revolution. Universal digital connectivity will significantly improve the lives of many people in the urban, rural and remote areas of the country by providing them better education, health care and jobs."

CDMA2000® is currently the only technology offering 3G (IMT) telephony and broadband data services in the 450 MHz frequency band, also known as CDMA450. CDMA450 systems support all CDMA2000 standards developed by 3GPP2 and published by the TIA including: CDMA2000 1X, 1xEV-DO Revision A, multi-carrier EV-DO Rev. B and future enhancements to these technologies. These technologies are capable of delivering voice, high-speed Internet access, television and multimedia multicasting, location-based services, push-to-talk, social networking, remote healthcare, mobile banking and broadband data services in both rural and urban settings using fixed, limited-mobility and full-mobility networks.

CDMA450 continues to expand rapidly around the world to meet the need for affordable telecommunication services in both urban and rural markets, with 116 operators offering 3G services in 61 countries. The CDMA community is commercializing multi-mode and multi-band devices to further support both domestic and international roaming.

For more information about the CDG and CDMA2000, visit www.cdg.org.

About CDMA2000 CDMA2000 is a widely deployed 3G technology, with 315 operators in 120 countries and territories serving more than 547 million subscribers. Counting 2G cdmaOne™ subscribers, there are over 550 million CDMA users worldwide. CDMA2000 1xEV-DO is a widely-deployed 3G CDMA (IMT-2000) solution offering mobile broadband to over 147 million people across a wide range of devices. CDMA2000 has been chosen by operators in both developed and emerging markets, and is deployable in the 450, 700, 800, 1700, 1900, AWS and 2100 MHz bands. More than 2,455 CDMA2000 devices from over 133 suppliers have been introduced to the market, including more than 566 Rel. 0 and 293 Rev. A devices on 115 CDMA2000 1xEV-DO Rel. 0, 107 Rev. A and 3 Rev. B systems. More information on CDMA2000 is available on the CDG Web site at www.cdg.org.

About CDG
The CDMA Development Group is a trade association formed to foster the worldwide development, implementation and use of CDMA2000 and other complementary wireless solutions. Its member companies include many of the world’s leading service providers and equipment manufacturers. The primary activities of the CDG include development of advanced features and services, evolution of standards, technical education, advocacy, regulatory affairs, global roaming and device availability. Currently, there are more than 500 individuals working within various CDG industry initiatives.

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cdmaOne is a registered trademark of the CDMA Development Group. CDMA2000 is a registered trademark of the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA-USA). All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.